Last year was also the third wettest on record in the U.S. and saw ten weather- or climate-related disasters that each caused at least $1 billion in damage in the U.S. and killed a total of 155 people. These include a drought, two floods, five severe storms, a wildfire, and a winter storm.

The average U.S. temperature was 54.4°F, 2.4°F above the 20th century average, and second only to 2012's record warmth. This was also the 19th consecutive year with average temperatures above the average for the century.

The analysis comes less than a month after the U.S. and 194 other countries signed an agreement in Paris to more aggressively counter the effects of climate change.

“Even if all the initial targets in Paris are met, we’ll only be part of the way there when it comes to reducing carbon from the atmosphere,” said President Barack Obama at the time. Still, the agreement represented “a turning point” by setting up “the architecture" for doing so, he said.

NOAA's climate monitoring center doesn't issue predictions for future weather, but the agency's Climate Prediction Center does. That team's forecast for the next three months calls for warmer-than-average temperatures in much of the country, although parts of Texas and the Southeast may be a little cooler than usual.

As Lancaster University Professor Gail Whiteman told the Weather Channel, "climate change means extreme weather is the new normal."